In this article: Birthdays Last week's Who's News This week's bonus: Noah Wyle Jonathan LaPaglia Steve Burns

Bullock, 34, who bases herself in Austin, Texas, because "it's everything I had in my head as a kid," thinks she's like the girl next door. "Guys like me in action films," she says. "And having girls as fans is the world's greatest compliment. Women are each other's harshest critics. When women don't accept you, it's a huge blow. I look at certain actresses and say, 'How will I ever achieve that?' " Bullock, one of People's 50 Most Beautiful and once voted class clown, says she's no different from other women, "except for my upbringing." Her mother was a German opera singer, so she grew up partly in Germany, partly in Virginia.

Steve Burns, host of Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues, is the new hero of the preschool set - a '90s Mr. Rogers. Does he have kids of his own?
Angela Myer, Bronx, N.Y.

No, but he knows the secret to working with kids is "being open and sincere." Burns, 25, tells us he never dreamed he'd be a kiddie-show star. "My friends still don't believe it," says Burns, who grew up in Boyertown, Pa. He's serious about his influence on the millions who've turned the show into must-see TV if you're 3. He learned how important he is when parents complained about his turn as a killer on NBC's Homicide. "I was just picking up a job. I didn't realize kids would be up that late - and watching Homicide, no less."

Pierce Brosnan is so dashing as secret agent James Bond, I can't imagine him as anyone else. How did he start out?
Gloria Smith,Chestertown, Md.

The Irishman, who'll steam up summer screens with Rene Russo in a Thomas Crown Affair remake, has been a circus fire-eater, stagehand and commercial illustrator. But his '80s TV private eye, Remington Steele, sealed his fate. Bond producers wanted him even then, but he was held to his contract and Timothy Dalton, blah-est of Bonds, stepped in. Brosnan met his late wife, Cassandra Harris, on Remington Steele and was devastated by her death from cancer in 1991. Today he's raising Dylan, 2, with girlfriend Keely Shaye-Smith.

Is Reagan appointee Sandra Day O'Connor the most conservative Supreme Court justice? If not, who is?
Douglas Kammerer,Paramus, N.J.

On big issues - abortion, affirmative action - William Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia are the most conservative. O'Connor, the court's first woman, is true to moderate/conservative views. For example, in a school harassment case, she said: "Little boys tease little girls. Is every incident going to lead to a lawsuit?" Clinton nominees Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are considered the most liberal, but even they are on the moderate side.

I would have bet Janet Jackson would marry longtime love Rene Elizondo. I was shocked they broke up. How's she handling her single status?
Brittany Reed, Detroit

The baby of the singing clan, Jackson, 32, seems fine since the February split, working, vacationing, seeing friends. Married for two years in her late teens to singer James DeBarge, Jackson was with Elizondo 13 years. Neither has detailed why they broke up, but in August she told The Los Angeles Times they differed on having children: "I don't know if I will have kids. I have this fear of not being a good enough parent."

I was watching an old episode of New York Undercover and handsome Jonathan LaPaglia caught my eye. Is he related to Murder One star Anthony LaPaglia?
Audrey Franklin,Iowa City, Iowa

Jonathan, 30, is the youngest of three LaPaglias. Anthony is the eldest; middle brother Michael is a car wholesaler. Jonathan stars in UPN's time-traveling Seven Days, but he'd be better cast on ER. He's a doctor who worked in an ER in his native Australia before he took up acting. Jonathan tells us Anthony inspired him: "Creatively, he was happy. I was convinced you couldn't be creative in medicine." Jonathan auditioned for ER, but it was a no-go. Now that the show needs a handsome maverick, perhaps he should try again.

Contributing: Bart Mills, Jeanne Wright

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Birthdays

June 6: Lukas Haas, 23; Sandra Bernhard, 44; Harvey Fierstein, 45; Tom Jones, 59
June 7: Prince, 41; Liam Neeson, 47
June 8: Julianna Margulies, 33; Barbara Bush, 74
June 9: Natalie Portman, 18; Johnny Depp, 36
June 10: LeeLee Sobieski, 17; Elizabeth Hurley, 34; Maurice Sendak, 71
June 11: Joshua Jackson, 21; Nelson Mandela, 81
June 12: George Bush 75